The first part of this series, where I talk about the historical context for superhero movies as a genre, is here. The second part, where I talk the superhero movies I think are the best, as well as the superhero movies other people think are the best, is here. The Auteurs of the Superhero Genre… Read More The Fourth Genre: The Auteurs
This is the second part of a three-part series. The first part, where I talk about the superhero genre’s place among other quintessentially American film genres, is here. The Best of the Fourth Genre What I was going to do here, in the interests of giving you the wisdom of crowds and critics, was one… Read More The Fourth Genre: The Best Superhero Movies
Dir. David Lean. Starring Ann Todd, Ralph Richardson, Nigel Patrick Dir. Christopher Nolan. Starring John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, Robert Pattinson In two bloated ages of blockbuster filmmaking, David Lean and Christopher Nolan are curious rejoinders to their times. Lean, while not immune to the bloat of the 1950s and 1960s, made films which more… Read More The Sound Barrier (1952) and Tenet (2020)
Dir. Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart I wrote a review of Mamma Mia! a few years ago, and now I’m kicking myself for not saving it for one of my unlikely movie pairings to alongside The Dark Knight. The two of them couldn’t be neater fits: two of the top five grossers of 2008,… Read More The Dark Knight (2008)
Dir. Christopher Nolan. Starring Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy Spoilers follow Dunkirk is bent on undoing its emotional work through its structure. The movie is already bound, even at a week old, to reach Memento levels of discussion of its timeline. Three plots intersect over the course of the film. One focuses on a… Read More Dunkirk (2017)
Dir. Christopher Nolan. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page As the van which is holding the inception team and their mark tumbles, so too does the gravity change in a hallway where Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) is fighting a manifestation of Robert Fischer’s (Cillian Murphy) subconscious. The two of them come closer to falling up than anyone… Read More Inception (2010)
Seeing Things Secondhand 